Over The River And Through The Woods

Written by Joe DiPietro.  Directed by Melinda Gallant.

 

DiPietro is best known for the Tony Award-winning musical Memphis, as well as for writing the book and lyrics for the long-running off-Broadway show I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change.

 

Nick is a single, Italian-American guy from New Jersey. His parents retired and moved to Florida. That doesn’t mean his family isn’t still in Jersey. In fact, he sees both sets of his grandparents every Sunday for dinner. This is routine until he has to tell them that he’s been offered a dream job. The job he’s been waiting for—marketing executive—would take him away from his beloved, but annoying, grandparents. He tells them. The news doesn’t sit so well. Thus begins a series of schemes to keep Nick around. How could he betray his family’s love to move to Seattle, for a job, wonder his grandparents?

 

The script also has a lovely message to think about: Maybe as each American generation tries to make life easier and more prosperous for the next, we’re also giving our descendants a pack of new complications to worry about. Maybe we should pause to appreciate time-honored traditions and simple pleasures.